Hit a wall

Maybe i am not spending enough time but I have hit a wall. Everyday i start over with the 5 chord power pack and every day I have the same issues. Even with Em. The pain is so bad trying to play funky holiday all the way through that I am sweating half way through and have to stop....ONLY to realize that I was destroying it because I was touching the other strings the whole time. Oh and C or D! forget about it. I'm beginning to lose interest because if I can't play them I can't memorize them and THEN...THEN the next lesson is switching between these chords! Lord I can't get my fingers to play them all by themselves much less move between them smoothly.

SOMEONE please give me some advice or inspiration to keep at it.

OK. Keep at it. = ]

Did you think it would be easy?

Seriously though. Back off, slow down, analyse what it is you are doing incorrectly in each individual case causing you the problem/s you are experiencing.

Sort one out, and you'll learn something plus improve confidence enormously. The other solutions will then follow like falling dominoes.

Everyone plateaus. It's part of learning. The solution is tenacity, use smart to analyse but don't overthink it, accept that it's a transitory phase, be patient, and know it will pass.

Other tips.

1. [u]Do use a string lube/ conditioner.[/u] I recommend Tone Finger Ease spray. It's the best string lube hands down in my opinion, but Dunlop Formula 65 which I use is pretty good too and better value. In your case, lash out on the best to help out those sore fingers.

2. [u]Be cognizant of how much fingertip pressure you are applying[/u] with fretting. It's characteristic of beginners to press too hard which makes the whole exercise harder for a myriad of reasons explained elsewhere on GT I'm not going to duplicate here.

I'm truly curious though. What problem [u]exactly[/u] are you having with Em? A chord just doesn't get any easier than that.

I think more information is needed.

1. How often and how long do you practice?

2. Has it always been hard or has it been fine up till now? Is it just power chords that are tripping you up?

3. Electric or acoustic?

4. It seems you joined beginning of November, so not that long ago. Were you starting from absolute zero on Nov 8?

Originally Posted by: jadaldouglas

Maybe i am not spending enough time but I have hit a wall. Everyday i start over with the 5 chord power pack and every day I have the same issues. Even with Em. The pain is so bad trying to play funky holiday all the way through that I am sweating half way through and have to stop....ONLY to realize that I was destroying it because I was touching the other strings the whole time. Oh and C or D! forget about it. I'm beginning to lose interest because if I can't play them I can't memorize them and THEN...THEN the next lesson is switching between these chords! Lord I can't get my fingers to play them all by themselves much less move between them smoothly.

SOMEONE please give me some advice or inspiration to keep at it.

Both ManX and Faith made some good points so I won`t repeat them here. But I do have a few more questions:

1) It sounds like you`re fighting your guitar. Are you having to press down REALLY hard to get a good sound ? If so, have your guitar set up looked at if you haven`t already. Maybe the action ( height of strings) is too high. Maybe a smaller guage of string could be switched in that will require less finger pressure. Perhaps you can even switch in all nylon strings for awhile until your calluses toughen up and your finger strength increases. 2 months is not a very long time so you`re still just starting out.

2) Like Faith said , I don`t know if you`re playing electric or acoustic. Guitars come in all shapes and sizes. Maybe you need a guitar with a wider fretboard to accomadate your fingers. I don`t know enough about your situation; just throwing these out there as possibilities.

3) Like ManX said, take a step back and figure out what`s giving you the most trouble. Then isolate that and just work on that for awhile. There`s no rush ; no need to put pressure on yourself.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck .

Moose is spot on. It sounds like you might be on a... ahem... not-so-good instrument. I can't say I ever had the troubles you're having, but I do know that when I switched out my entry level Fender acoustic for a very nice Ibanez, a whole bunch of things that were more challenging got easier in a hurry (barre chords, I'm looking at you).

It's true that masters are masters regardless of the quality of their instrument, but for the rest of us, quality of gear does matter.

I'm not saying go out and spend a lot on a high-end guitar -- please don't do that right now! -- but maybe a guitar tech can help make the one you have more playable if that's the problem. You might also stop by a guitar store, if there's one open around you right now, and play some higher-end guitars just to see if there's a difference.

If it's a string issue, that's easily solved. Strings are inexpensive, for the most part. Try some Martin Silk and Steels, or some 11 light gauge. Or like Moose says, even some nylon strings.

And you can get a Musician's Practice Glove, too, although that doesn't seem to be the root of the problem in this case.

Here's a tip I found for learning chords with no pain.

It is all about muscle memory.

Place your fingers in position until you can play the chord correctly. Take your time. Now lift your fingers off the strings just ever so slightly and back down but with little to no pressure 20 times. You don't have to play the chord. It is to instil the position of your fingers into muscle memory.

One day your fingers will find the right position without even thinking. Patience is the key.

In addition to that try to learn all the chord progressions the chilipeppers used during the Frusciante era's, as well as the scales hes using over those chord progressions and you will start to see a lot of patterns in their songs and more easily understand whats going on.

manXcat: 😫 Thanks. I know the issue is me lol. And you are right it's a transitional phase and I need to take a step back, show some patience and keep at it. And that's partially why I got so frustrated because Em should not cause me that much frustration. [br]I'm back at it this morning and I'm going to let up on the pressure I'm using and relax. [br]Not having an actual class to compare my practice with others and have hints and tips on the fly... seeing how damn easy the instructor makes it look sometimes makes me feel that it may be too hard for me. Then I come to the forum and I'm encouraged all over again. I do not think it will be easy... thanks for that.

Faith83: Thanks. Yes easy until power chords. I am so good at ode to Joy that I don't even need the tab anymore. It was such a great feeling and I was enjoying it so much ... then the damn power chords came lol. [br]I had never picked up a guitar at all until Nov.

I have an acoustic and I took it in and had someone restring it and adjust the strings as much as they could. It's in perfect working condition. [br]Maybe I just need to chill out take a breather and up my practice time? I have been practicing once per day for up to 30 minutes, I usually quit when my fingertips can't take anymore. They had gotten nice and tough until now it's on different parts of the fingertips now while reaching for these new chords. [br][br]

Oh and one more thing. I do have a nylon string ... the free one when I switched to the annual billing. I broke a string trying to tune it and just haven't gone to have it fixed. I wonder if I should go do that and use it until I master these chords? I thought maybe it was best to just learn learn the hard way ??

Then skip the power chords and come back to them. I promise the Guitar Police won't fine you. ;-)

re: the hard way. Nope. There is enough that's naturally difficult about learning to play guitar that you don't need to pile on stuff that doesn't have to be hard. Good guitar, good strings, good set up, a practice glove.

And then move on to the next lesson. The power chords will be waiting for you when you want them.

PS -- If you're on acoustic and that's the kind of music you want to play, I don't think they're crucial anyway. They pretty much went in one ear and out the other for me, at least for now, and I don't miss them...

Okay everyone. I just want you to know that I woke up today with a whole new outlook because of all of you. I pushed through tried different things and am still at it now. I can switch between Em and Am and it's getting easier by the minute. PHEW. I'm not going to give up.

Originally Posted by: jadaldouglas

Okay everyone. I just want you to know that I woke up today with a whole new outlook because of all of you. I pushed through tried different things and am still at it now. I can switch between Em and Am and it's getting easier by the minute. PHEW. I'm not going to give up.

Good for you!

Now you know it's useful to walk away and sleep on things to reapproach with perspective refreshed and energy renewed. Recognising when to do so for all manner of situations is a tool you will use for life.

Originally Posted by: jadaldouglas

Okay everyone. I just want you to know that I woke up today with a whole new outlook because of all of you. I pushed through tried different things and am still at it now. I can switch between Em and Am and it's getting easier by the minute. PHEW. I'm not going to give up.

Excellent!

And yeah, plateaus suck. I've been working on a fingerpicking pattern for over a month and was so frustrated, and then tonight, I picked up the guitar and the pattern just rolled off my fingers.

Sometimes it comes all at once and the key is just to wait for it -- Billy Joel said every piano has X number of hit songs in it and his job was just to sit there and play crap for long enough to allow them to come out. (I'm not sure that's directly relevant, but it came up, so I thought I'd share it, LOL)

Originally Posted by: jadaldouglas

......

I usually quit when my fingertips can't take anymore. They had gotten nice and tough until now it's on different parts of the fingertips now while reaching for these new chords. [br][br]

Here's a great tip I read for toughening those fingertips when perhaps taking a break or concentrating on a little used area of the fingers

Use a credit card (or similar) and place one edge in your palm and the other on your fingertips.

I do it when queuing somewhere, like at the supermarket.

As always though, don't overdo it.